How Bad Is The Coronavirus In Texas, Florida? States See Record Number Of Cases

The resurgence of the novel coronavirus continues to batter regions throughout the United States, with some states experiencing record numbers of daily new cases. On Saturday, Florida and Texas reported 11,445 and 8,258 new infections, respectively, which were record highs for each state.

The World Health Organization has set the safe rate of positive testing at 5%, at which point state governments are safe to begin reopening. By contrast, Florida and Texas — two states that pushed hard to reopen businesses early — reported that 14.1% and 13.1%, respectively, of all COVID-19 tests given on Saturday were positive.

Despite this surge in cases, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to reverse course and close businesses back down that have reopened, though he has stated that further reopening plans have been put on hold. DeSantis, a Republican, has also repeatedly refused to institute a statewide mask mandate, leaving the task up to local governments, like Jacksonville. Florida constitutes roughly 20% of the new cases in the recent resurgence of COVID-19.

In Texas, several counties have faced severe bed shortages as coronavirus patients come in waves. A series of internal memos recently obtained by the press showed Houston-area hospitals working to transfer patients to different facilities and making hard decisions about which patients received priority. In Hidalgo and Starr Counties, shelter-in-place orders have been instituted after local hospitals reached capacity.

With new cases mounting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott moved to close bars and reduce seating capacity at restaurants at the end of last month. Abbott, a Republican, issued a statewide mask mandate on Thursday.

Texas and Florida are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the U.S. for COVID-19 cases, behind only New York and California. According to Johns Hopkins University, Florida has seen over 190,000 cases and over 3,700 deaths. Texas has seen over 192,000 cases and over 2,600 deaths.